Valentín González

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Valentín González González (4 November 1904 – 20 October 1983), popularly known as El Campesino (the Peasant), was a Spanish Republican military commander during the Spanish Civil War.

Life

Spanish Civil War

Born in Malcocinado, Badajoz, González worked as a miner and was a member of the Communist Party, establishing one of the first militia units to counter Francisco Franco's Nationalist Army upon the outbreak of the Civil War. As a brigade commander, González personally took part in all of the major actions that occurred during the Nationalists' assault on Madrid in 1936. He also commanded formations during the battles of the Corunna Road (December 1936),Template:Sfn the Jarama, and Guadalajara (March 1937).Template:Sfn

In the summer of 1937, he led the 46th Division in the Battle of Brunete.Template:Sfn Heavily promoted as a heroic figure by Soviet propaganda, González was accused by other officers in the Ejercito Popular of being brutal in his treatment of his men, unsuited for modern battle, and an egomaniac.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He led his men in the Battle of Belchite,Template:Sfn the Battle of Teruel,Template:Sfn and Catalonia. After the Nationalist victory in 1939, he emigrated to the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union

Along with other exiled Spanish Republican commanders, he was enrolled in the Frunze Military Academy but was expelled for incompetence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was later imprisoned in Vorkutlag Gulag labor camp with other Spanish Communists. There he worked as a brigadier of miners. The Soviets transferred him to other camps. In 1944 he escaped from Soviet Union to Iran.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1951 he published an autobiography, Vida y muerte en la URSS (translated into English a year later as El Campesino: Life and Death in Soviet Russia.)

After the Spanish transition to democracy in 1978, he returned to Spain. He died in Madrid.

References

Bibliography

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